Please turn with me to Joshua - chapter 2.  This morning is our second look at the Book of Joshua.

Some time ago there was cartoon in the National Observer that had a pretty familiar scene.  A very busy intersection where the cars were bumper to bumper in all four directions.  Horns were honking.  Engines were steaming over.  Tempers were on edge.  Impatience was written on the face of the drivers.  And there was this pedestrian standing on the corner looking across the street in disbelief at the sign.  Instead of reading the normal “Walk” or “Don’t Walk,” it read, “Good Luck.” (1)

The book of Joshua is about real people facing enormous challenges and learning to trust God along the way.  Learning to trust God while He accomplishes the impossible - does His work in us and through us in ways that go way beyond what we could ever imagine.

Chapter two brings us to the account of Rahab and the spies.  This is a pretty familiar account.  So let’s touch on a few details to get them fresh in our minds.  Then we’ll come back and talk about how this all can relate to us today.

Joshua 2:1  Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”  So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.

Let’s pause there.  There is a huge amount of background information in this one verse that we need to grab onto.

First - the word “then” refers back to what we looked at in chapter one.

Israel has completed 40 years of discipline and discipleship in the wilderness - 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  Now, they’re poised on the edge of the Promised Land.  If you’ll look at the map - on the right hand side is a place called Shittim - just east of the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea.  That’s where the people are camped.

In chapter one we saw that God came to Joshua and commanded Joshua to take the people across the Jordan River and to take possession of the Promised Land - west of the river.  God promised His presence.  Gave them instructions on how they were to live as His people.  Joshua told the people to get ready.  The people and Joshua responded in faith to God’s command and prepared to move forward.  Remember this?

That’s all part of the “then.”

“Then” - after all that took place - Joshua sent out spies - two of them - to go and see what it was like across the Jordan River and especially to spy out Jericho - information about its defenses - the people there.  You can see Jericho - just to the left of the Jordan River.  Jericho being the first city that they’re going to conquer.

Second - by way of background - we need to know about the city of Jericho.

Jericho was known as “The City of Palms”  Any one know the nickname for Merced?  “Gateway to Yosemite.”  “The City of Palms” described Jericho’s location.  It was strategically located in the fertile Jordan Valley.  Palm trees - agriculture.  It was prosperous - wealthy.

Jericho was an old city - built up over several thousand years - 17 different phases of construction.  If you look at the screen - the picture on the left side - the city had two walls.  The first wall - on the right - the outer wall - was 30 feet tall and six feet thick.  Then there was an opening of about 12 to 15 feet.  Then the inner wall - the one that the city was behind - was 30 feet tall and 12 feet thick.  We know all that because the city’s been excavated.

The picture on the right shows that between the two walls there were houses.  People lived even by the top of the outer wall - where it was possible - up on your roof - to look out onto the fertile Jordan River valley.

One other thing about Jericho.  Jericho practiced a religion that included child sacrifices and sexual perversities such as homosexuality and ritual prostitution.  It was also the most evil of the Amorite cities - singled out by God for total destruction.

Third - by way of background - we need to know about Rahab.

Rahab was probably a very capable businesswoman - respected and well known in the city.  She ran a brothel and was probably pretty successful at it.  Which is probably why the spies went there - not for the prostitutes - but because a good cross section of the city made use of Rahab’s services.   It was a strategic location to keep track of what was happening in Jericho - to take the pulse of the city.

God commands the people to move out.  Joshua sends spies - particularly to Jericho - they end up at Rahab’s brothel.

Verse 2:  It was told the king of Jericho, saying “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.”  And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”

Apparently these spies weren’t really good spies.  The first night they show up in town the king knows exactly where to look for them.

Verse 4:  But the woman - Rahab - had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.  It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went.  Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”  But she had brought them - these two wannabe spies - up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.  So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.

Let’s pause there.  Verses 2 to 7 focus on Rahab’s Deception.  Say that with me, “Rahab’s deception.”

Houses in those days - and houses in the Middle East today - have flat roofs - which are used for a number of different purposes.  She had flax  -this plant used for a number of different purposes - she had flax laid out to dry on her roof.  Under the plant she hid the spies.  When the king’s men show up - she sends them on a wild goose chase.

There are a number of people who get all worked up about Rahab telling a lie here.  This becomes a huge ethics and faith question.  But, they need to get over it.  The lie isn’t the point.  The point is that Rahab hid the spies.

Bottom line:  She’s doing what she knew how to do in order to do what she knew to be right.

Verse 8:  Now before they - the spies - lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.  For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.  When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

Verses 8 to 11 focus on Rahab’s Belief.  Say that with me, “Rahab’s belief.”

In verse 9 she says, “I know” that’s personal.  I have come to believe the truth of this.  “I know that the Lord has given you the land.”

In the Hebrew - Rahab calls God by the name Yahweh.  She doesn’t use the name of some Canaanite deity that her people worshipped.  She uses the name God’s people used to speak of God.  I know that Yahweh - your God - has given you the land.

Why?  Because we heard how Yahweh dried up the Red Sea.  How Yahweh miraculously delivered you from Egypt.  How Yahweh used you to wipe out the Amorite kings Sihon and Og - leveled their cities - destroyed their kingdoms.

Your Yahweh is greater than the Egyptian gods - even than the gods we serve.  Your Yahweh is greater than the mightiest kings on earth.

Then in verse 11 she declares that the Hebrew God is “the Lord your God.”  In Hebrew she uses two names for God.  Yahweh - which describes God as always existing.  And Elohim - which describes the fullness of God’s divine power.  Your Yahweh Elohim is the God in heaven and on earth - everywhere He is sovereign.

“We’ve been watching the eternal all powerful sovereign God of all there is take care of you for 40 years.  Watched Him mow down people before you.  And we’re not just a little concerned.  We’re terrified.  Because we know that we’re next.  I know that He’s already given you this land.”

The bottom line of what Rahab believes is this:  “Your God is the God and we’re toast.”

Verse 12:  “Now therefore - because your God is the God and we’re toast - therefore, please swear to me by the Lord - Why swear by Yahweh?  Because there’s no one greater.  Ultimately you’re going to have to answer to Him - please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”  So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

Verses 12 to 14 focus on Rahab’s Faith.  Say that with me, “Rahab’s faith.”

In verse 12 Rahab says, “I dealt kindly with you.  Now you deal kindly with me.” 

In Hebrew - the word for “kindly” is “chesed” - it has to do with God’s goodness and kindness in establishing a covenant relationship with His people. 

Rahab isn’t just saying, “I saved your necks.  Now you save mine.”  Rahab is talking about establishing a deep ongoing binding relationship - a continual covenant - with the God’s people - that’s bound up by her belief in the sovereignty of Yahweh Elohim - God.

Because of what she believes to be true about God - Rahab has protected God’s people - these two spies.  Hid them - at the cost of her own life.  Risks everything to keep them safe.  She’s turned her back on Jericho.  She’s way out on a limb here and there’s no going back.

In a demonstration of her faith she pleads for the lives of her family.  Places everything that’s of value to her in the hands of God’s people - ultimately in the hands of God.  All that is an act of faith in God.

Bottom line:  By faith in God she casts her lot in with God’s people.

Verse 15:  Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.

Remember the picture of the walls?  The brothel must have been on the outer wall.

Verse 16:  She said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return.  Then afterward you may go on your way.”  The men said to her, “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.  It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.  But if you tell this business of ours then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.”  She said, “According to your words, so be it.”  So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Verses 15 to 21 focus on Rahab’s Instructions.  Say that with me, “Rahab’s instructions.”

Notice two things.

First - the instructions that Rahab gives to the spies.

Look back at the map.  Just west of Jericho - about 5 miles - is Mount Quarantania and a range of hills honeycombed with lots of caves.  See the wiggly lines.  A person could head for the hills and stay there for months and never be found.  The whole time a person was hiding he would have a great view of Jericho and everything happening in that part of the Jordan Valley.

Rahab sends these spies to a great place to hide - a high place with a great view of what’s going on below.

Second - notice the instructions the spies give to Rahab.  This is the fine print in the contract.

Lose lips sink what?  ships.  Nothing you do can warm people about what we’re about to do.  So we need a sign to let us know in what house the people are to be spared.  The window you let us out of the city through - tie a scarlet thread in that window so we can see it.  Whoever’s in that house will be spared.  Her life - and that of her family - Rahab’s life is literally going to be hanging by a thread.

Hold onto that image.  Its intentional.  They could have chosen another color.  But red - the color of blood - is purposely symbolic.  It is a reminder of the Passover.  The blood spread on the doorposts - an indication that those within the house are to be spared.  It is a purposeful foreshadowing of the crucifixion.  Salvation through the blood of Jesus flowing down.  God saving His people.  Hold onto that image.  We’ll come back to it. 

Verse 22:  They departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned.  Now the pursuers had sought them all along the road - leading down to the Jordan River - back to Shittim - but had not found them - because they were hiding up in the hills in the opposite direction - Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them.  They said to Joshua, “Surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”

Verses 22 to 24 focus on The Spies’ Report.

Remember first report?  40 years earlier?  There are giants in the land - sons of Anakim.  The cities are large and fortified.  Maybe we ought to get a new leader and go back to Egypt.  What we’re we thinking anyway?

These are words of faith.  “The Lord has given us the land and the people are really really afraid of us.”

Scripture presents Rahab as an example of saving faith.

Rahab is a Canaanite - part of a nation that virtually every culture and nation around them hated.  Spiritually - while God had given them opportunity after opportunity to repent - they were degenerate - evil - perverse.  They were a people judged by God and waiting to be wiped out.

Rahab is a prostitute.  A lifestyle - the practice of which - Scripture condemns.  And she’s good at it.

Point being:  Culturally - spiritually - Rahab is far from God.

And yet, Rahab trusts God.  Places her life in God’s hands - rescues the spies - leaves her life hanging by a scarlet thread.

The writer of Hebrews - in the great roll call of faith - lists the names of just two women as examples of faith.  Sarah the wife of the great patriarch Abraham.  And Rahab the prostitute.  Hebrews 11:31:  “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.”

James compares Rahab to Abraham.  James 2:21:  “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”  Then in verse 25:  “In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”

Just as the faith of Abraham - Rahab’s faith came through in her actions.  Was demonstrated with the same power and significance - the great potential loss - the demand for trusting in what she could not see.

Rahab becomes the great-great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus.  She’s given a place of honor in the history of Israel.  A place of honor in our own spiritual history.

Scripture presents Rahab as an example of saving faith.

And yet, thinking this through for us today I’d like to suggest that the most amazing thing about Rahab’s faith is not what she believes - its what she doesn’t believe.

Maria Brunner has three very demanding children and a lazy husband.  Her husband is unemployed, so she supports their three young children by cleaning other people's houses.  Even without a job, her husband managed to run up quite a number of unpaid parking tickets.  The bills total nearly $5,000.  Mr. Brunner kept the tickets a secret from his wife, but as the owner of the vehicle, she’s responsible.  Maria couldn’t pay the fine, and since her husband couldn’t come up with the money, she spent three months behind bars.  True account.

Police reported that when they went to arrest Maria, “She seemed really happy to see us… and repeatedly thanked us for arresting her.”  While most people taken into custody hide their heads in shame, Maria “smiled and waved as she was driven off to jail.”

Maria's reaction?  “I've had enough of scraping a living for the family… As long as I get food and a hot shower every day, I don't mind being sent to jail.  I can finally get some rest and relaxation.” (2)

Rahab was an upstanding citizen of Jericho.  A well known successful businesswomen.  She was so respected that when the king asked her where the spies were and she said they’d left he took her word for it.  Didn’t even search the place.

When she’s talking to the spies she doesn’t say anything about being a prostitute.  “May God forgive me for living this wicked life of sin.”  She’s living according to the custom of her town and seemingly doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

But Rahab is caught between a rock and a what?  a hard place.  She sees what’s coming - the destruction of her city and everything she’s founded her life on.  She can blow the whistle on the spies and cling to what she has - or she can throw her lot in with the Hebrews and their God.  When looking at her situation in Jericho - she chooses Yahweh.

Why wouldn’t she?  Total destruction or a chance to live.

Rahab’s wheeling and dealing with the spies and trusting in the better of two choices.  Your God is greater.  We’re toast.  So I’m going to throw myself before the mercy of the God of heaven and earth and pray that I don’t get dead.  So, let’s make a deal.  I save you.  You all save me.

Today we call that “Fire Insurance.”  Have you heard that term?  The choice is the eternal torture of hell - sulfur - brimstone - eternal separation from God - the lake of fire - really nasty stuff happening to us - or eternity with God - the pleasures and joys of heaven.  Tough choice.  I choose God.

It offends our pride to think we’re acting selfishly.  But we are incredibly selfish beings.  Let your mind wander down that path.  Think about the songs we sing in worship.  The prayers we pray - what we ask God for.  Why we serve others.  If we’re honest, there’s a lot of focus on self.  Even when we think we’re acting so righteously - so unselfishly - we fall short of God’s standard of holiness - because ultimately we’re still focused on ourselves.  Sin taints us.

There is such a huge comfort in that for us.

Where Rahab was is where a lot of people - many in the church - are today.  “I’m not really a horrible person - bound by horrendous sin and depravity - but looking at my life - knowing the emptiness - knowing that I have needs that I cannot take care of myself - shown the choices - I need what God offers.”

We can appreciate the honesty of Rahab.  Appreciate the love of God.  He takes her where she’s at and He does save her. - uses her as an example of saving faith.  We don’t have to clean up our act - get all our theology and doctrine right - pray some formula prayer - we can even come to God for selfish reasons.  We need what He offers. 

Now be careful.  As Christians - there’s a necessity for us to go deeper in our relationship with God.  Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33) 

Point being that if we’re to live as God desires us to live and to be what He has created us to be - really living true to ourselves - then we need to learn to let go of our self focus and grow in a trust which is totally focused and surrendered to God. 

_______________________

1. National Observer, May 29, 1967
2. The Christian Science Monitor, May 19, 2005

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.